I've been listening to PJ Harveys Let England Shake a lot recently, and it's put me in mind about our troops. I mean, America's troops, Britain's troops, France's troops etc etc. Western troops, how we must support them at all times, SUPPORT TEH TROOPS!!

I do support our troops, I mean, good for you, troops. But I don't support them blindly, and I have far more support for the poor bastards of the country in which war is being made.

I look at it this way. Best equipped and supported troops with unmanned attack drones and sat nav vs villager with goat and small plot of land. I always go for the underdog.

The reason we support the troops with such vigor is because they are us. They are our wives, fathers, brothers and sisters. It's because they come from our country, it's because they made the choice to go into the army instead of us, protecting our freedoms. I think there is some truth in that, but also a whole lot of bull****.

Do you support the troops? And have you heard PJ Harvey's Let England Shake?

I support the troops, the same way I'd support anyone who has to go into a conflict zone and risk injury, death, and see their comrades die.
But if you think they're "protecting our freedoms" at the moment, then you're pretty deluded.

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I wish that it mattered enough that all I really want is for these troops to get back home safely soon. However, to many, supporting the troops means supporting the war and everything the troops are doing for the government in that war. In a way, what they are really telling us to do is agree with what the government is doing, otherwise be regarded as unpatriotic terrorist sympathizers. It is unfortunate, but that is what some people mean.

I do not believe they are fighting for our freedom. We already have relative freedom and the countries we are at war with were not really in a position to take that away. I do not agree with the government's justifications for these wars. I do not support what is happening where these wars are taking place nor do I support everything that the troops are doing there. Considering some of the things that they have done there, it would be immoral in my opinion to support everything they do. But some insist that is what you have to do in order to properly support the troops.

I hadn't heard of PJ Harvey or Let England Shake, but I looked it up on Youtube.

thou shall not kill.

I don't think supporting troops and not supporting war have to be mutually exclusive feelings.

Like anyone who has to carry out a high-risk job, I would hope they would be adequately remunerated and equipped to do it, and their safety could be ensured to the furthest extent possible.

Saying that, anyone who pastes a status update on Facebook making some brutally dumb comparison about how the media gives so much attention to, say, Charlie Sheen but here's a list of servicemen who have died recently and not been reported about (except in the major news articles where they have been reported, otherwise how would I have known about their deaths, but hopefully you'll overlook this giant flaw and just understand how important it is gosh darn that you support our troops by being indignant about some issue that isn't an issue and be brave and repost this bc 97% aren't brave enough and will you be part of the 3% figure I hauled out of my *** who will clog the internet with bull****? Will you???) probably needs to be shot, or at the very least sent into enemy territory 'accidentally' unequipped with any weapons but with a giant flashing beacon or neon sign strapped to their head indicating that they need to be shot.